Table 3.
Effects of supplementing sow diet with SB, MCFA, or n-3 PUFA during late pregnancy and lactation on the reproductive performance of sows and growth performance of piglets until weaning at 22 d of age
| Treatments1 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CON | SB | MCFA | n-3 PUFA | SEM | P-value | |
| Daily feed intake per sow, kg/d | 6.46b | 7.58a | 7.33a | 5.75c | 0.22 | 0.010 |
| Daily digestable energy intake per sow, Mcal/d | 22.1b | 25.9a | 25.4a | 22.4b | 0.61 | <0.001 |
| Reproductive performance of sows | ||||||
| Number of piglets born per litter | 14.2 | 15.0 | 14.6 | 14.8 | 0.50 | 0.695 |
| Number of piglets born alive per litter | 13.4 | 14.2 | 13.6 | 13.8 | 0.51 | 0.685 |
| Number of piglets stillborn per litter | 0.83 | 0.83 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.25 | 0.932 |
| Born alive rate, % | 94.7 | 94.5 | 94.5 | 93.7 | 1.69 | 0.892 |
| Weight of piglets at birth, kg | 1.44 | 1.47 | 1.52 | 1.43 | 0.08 | 0.850 |
| Litter weight of piglets at birth, kg | 20.4 | 23.1 | 21.6 | 21.0 | 1.40 | 0.563 |
| Weaning-estrus interval, d | 6.60a | 5.40b | 4.00c | 5.40b | 0.54 | 0.030 |
| Growth performance of piglets | ||||||
| Survival rate of piglets at weaning, % | 82.0b | 91.3a | 87.5ab | 85.0ab | 2.17 | 0.045 |
| Weight of piglets at weaning, kg | 5.36 | 5.65 | 5.51 | 5.73 | 1.32 | 0.761 |
| Daily body weight gain of piglets, g/d | 186 | 198 | 190 | 204 | 8.27 | 0.302 |
| Incidence of diarrhea in piglets, % | 20.6a | 12.2d | 14.5c | 17.3b | 1.21 | <0.001 |
1CON, basal diet; SB, basal diet + 1 g/kg coated sodium butyrate; MCFA, basal diet + 7.75 g/kg coated medium-chain fatty acids; n-3PUFA, basal diet + coated 68.2 g/kg n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Data are presented as mean ± SEM (n = 6).
a–cValues in the same row with different small letter superscripts mean significant difference (P < 0.05).